Two games, then a trainer’s room
Paolo Banchero’s season barely got started. The Orlando Magic announced Saturday that their forward has a low-grade high-ankle sprain, an injury he picked up in the third quarter of Friday’s 115-93 loss to Minnesota.
The team has not given a timetable. ESPN reported that this type of sprain typically costs four to six weeks, though “low-grade” leaves room for a shorter absence. Banchero told the Orlando Sentinel the injury felt different from his earlier ones, which have mostly been on the outside of the ankle. “So a little scary in that way,” he said.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
What Orlando loses
Banchero started both games and averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds. The Magic are 0-2, and the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft is the engine of their half-court offense. Across five seasons he has averaged 22.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 272 games, every one of them a start.
He is 23, and Orlando has leaned on him for volume since the day he arrived. Without him, the ball goes to the rest of a roster that has yet to find a rhythm in the first week of the season. The next few days will show how the Magic plan to cover the gap.
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